


Capturing the Heart [Re-write]

by ZanaBean



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Red & Green & Blue & Yellow | Pokemon Red Green Blue Yellow Versions
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24449728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZanaBean/pseuds/ZanaBean
Summary: Ash has been captured. Captured by Giovanni. Ash had come so close to figuring out what Team Rocket was up to. Giovanni however had had enough and was now keeping Ash in a locked room with no windows, concrete walls, single dirty mattress, in the basement. Ash had no way to escape. Why did Giovanni need him?THIS IS A RE-WRITE IN PROGRESSAsh is now 19 and Giovanni is 27This is a Reformship fic so it is gayI don't own pokemon or these characters (I wish)https://www.wattpad.com/user/ZanaBean
Relationships: Jessie and James (pokemon), Sakaki | Giovanni/Satoshi | Ash Ketchum
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	1. Caught by a Mob Boss

Ash peered around the corner evaluating the situation. Pikachu held onto his hair to keep from slipping, perched on his shoulder. The Silph Co. building loomed in front of them across the street from the alley. Team Rocket’s goons were crawling all over the front entrance. At this rate it would be impossible to get near the building. Ash cursed under his breath, so close but it would do him no good to get caught here. He crouched against the alley wall, waiting… waiting… waiting… now! The goons left at the door were quickly dispersing, mostly to different cars scattered on the other side of the road, or had already disappeared into the building.

No one was looking as Ash darted forward, straight for the door. He used the trees and benches lining the street to cover himself as much as possible, keeping low to the ground, until he made a last mad dash to the entrance.

Only to stumble to a halt as the doors were flung open by two underlings. The head of Team Rocket, Giovanni himself, stepped out of the doors immediately after.

_Shit_

Ash couldn’t stop in time, tripping over his own two feet as he barreled into one of the Rocket grunts who followed Giovanni out the door. Pikachu tumbled off his shoulder smacking directly into the Rocket boss, fainting instantly.

Giovanni’s head snapped around, meeting Ash’s eyes for a fraction of a second as he scrambled to his feet and fled, scooping Pikachu up as he did.

The Rocket goons were after him just as quickly. The sound of pokeballs breaking open, and chasing footsteps was immediate and loud. Ash had no time to think, barely enough time to escape around one corner before trying to find the next. He could feel pokemon, rattata, ekans, zubat, nipping at his heels every time he tried to slow down long enough to make a plan.

Of course he’d left his pokemon in the bottom of his backpack, he hadn’t wanted it to be so obvious he was a trainer. He hadn’t wanted to put the unsuspecting gang on edge. He hadn’t thought he would be running face to face into the leader of Team Rocket himself

_Damn it, Damn It, DAMN IT, I was so close_

Ash was so caught up being angry at himself for the slip up, and slightly preoccupied with the zubat that had just gotten so close it knocked his hat off, that he didn’t notice the person around the corner until he ran into them. He fell backwards, Pikachu dropping from his hold.

Giovanni stood above him, Nidoking towered even further still above Giovanni. Before Ash could react in any way to defend himself Giovanni leaned down and grabbed Pikachu by the scruff. He smirked at Ash, “a pikachu and a novelty hat, Ash Ketchum, lovely to make your acquaintance. I think you may want to accompany me back to Silph Co. for… well, your own safety”. At the smallest twitch of Giovanni’s fingers Nidoking raised a hand, claws glowing a sickly purple, prepared to make Ash follow by choice or by force.

Ash slowly stood, keeping his hands visible and his eyes on Nidoking, “if i disappear people will come looking for me”.

Giovanni smiled at him, so warm unless you looked into his eyes, cold and calculating. He assessed the risks versus the reward in seconds before waving at someone to step forward behind Ash, “thank you for the heads up, very sportsmanlike of you. I’ll just have to make sure they’re taken care of as well”.

Ash felt a pit settle into his stomach at the threat of Giovanni silencing anyone who looked for him. He let the few Rocket grunts who came up behind him pull his hands behind his back without a fight. Their pokemon now surrounded him, keeping him in line as Giovanni sent Nidoking back into his pokeball.

Ash was stripped of his backpack, wallet, and phone before being marched down back alleys back toward Silph Co. Giovanni didn’t stay with them, disappearing into a car that Ash hadn’t noticed parked on the side of the street he had been intercepted on. With his pokemon and belongings completely out of his reach Ash had no choice but to let the thugs take him back. He didn’t know if it was poor luck or Team Rocket’s influence but he didn’t see another person the entire way back.

Once Silph was in sight the grunts took him to the side of the building, to a hidden employee entrance Ash assumed. One of the men holding onto him let go to use a key card, or maybe a badge, to open the door. He was marched through hallways and past normal people in business formal clothing that didn’t even bat an eye at the situation. Ash was beginning to think that every single person who had ever worked at Silph Co. might have started out as Team Rocket instead of the other way around.

For a fleeting second Ash wondered what the pay was like, if there was any at all. But then he was shoved into an elevator. He was shoved against the wall, away from the button panel, while they loaded in and the doors shut. Ash couldn’t see the panel but he knew they were going down, probably to a private “staff only” basement. He could feel that pit in his stomach growing the further they went, although it probably only took a minute it felt like they were miles underground.

He was pushed right back out of the elevator when it stopped. Concrete walls, floor, and ceiling, surprisingly well lit even though it gave away no detail at all, both directions looked exactly the same. He was taken even further into this maze of the same hallway, maybe they were taking him in circles, until they stopped at another door with a key card pad. The same grunt from before stepped forward and swiped his, Ash was sure now, badge to open the door.

It wasn’t a small room really but Ash had a feeling he would find it cramped. When they first stepped in they were in a small section of the room that was clear of everything but a couple small chairs. The rest of the room was taken up by two separate areas, blocked off by prison bars. It would have been ridiculous to think of a bad guys lair actually having a prison cell room but now that Ash was looking at it, the stains on the floor, the cracks in the ceiling, the thin mattress shoved into the corner, and the toilet just sitting across from it, the more he found it menacing instead of amusing.

He was pushed into the left cell hard enough he went sprawling, barely catching himself on the wall before he face planted. The door was slammed shut behind him before he could react, the lock thudding into place with a finality that told Ash he should make himself comfortable in this shit hole, since they certainly wouldn’t.

He was left alone after that.

He paced.

_Why would they keep me here? I mean, I obviously pose a threat, but they have no idea what I do or don’t know. I don’t even know if what I know is a threat. Why not just dump me somewhere no one will find me? What does Giovanni want? Where are they keeping Pikachu? Is he safe? Am I safe? They didn’t kill me but they might change their mind on how useful I am._

He sighed and resigned himself to sitting on the dirty mattress, he was here now whether he liked it or not. He wasn’t going to lie, he was scared. For himself, for his pokemon, for anyone who might come looking for him. It seemed that Giovanni was going to keep him here under tight wraps.

He hoped they would at least feed him, it would be even more cruel than he thought they could be to keep him here just to starve him to death.

Nothing to do but wait.

He was trapped here.

Waiting for them to decide if he was worth keeping alive.


	2. The Question

Ash wasn’t there long. He stood when he heard the buzz for the door and the clunk as it opened. Two Team Rocket grunts stepped through first, taking position on either side of the door. Ash wasn’t sure why, it wasn’t like he would have been able to escape the cell bars in such a short amount of time. Although he might want to start trying to.

Giovanni was the next to enter, peering disdainfully around the dirty room. He was followed closely by Persian, red ruby glinting in the prison's lights. They stalked to the front of Ash’s cell together.

Giovanni gave him a smooth smile, “I’m glad to see you seem to be comfortable here”.

Ash glared, arms crossing, “right, I’m sure that was at the top of your list of worries. Right behind taking over the world and threatening young children into giving you their pokemon”.

“You’re awfully snarky for someone with no power or pokemon in this situation”, Giovanni replied, head tipping slightly to the side as he evaluated Ash. He almost wanted to step back as Giovanni’s eyes drifted over him, emotionless.

_Creep_

Giovanni hummed as Persian circled his legs, “well, no matter, you can be useful. What do you know of the masterball’s whereabouts”.

Ash frowned, shifting on his feet, “why”. He paused for an answer he didn’t expect to get, Giovanni’s smile never wavered as he waited. Ash tapped his foot before giving up and pacing again, “you know I’m not going to tell you anything about that, you’re not dumb”.

Ash hated the light chuckle that Giovanni let out, “no you’re right, I’m not. Which is why I’ll remind you that I have your rat and I could find your home easily” he reached down to pet Persian, “in time I think you will be happy to tell me what I want to hear”.

Ash stopped pacing right in front of the Rocket boss, scowling “Fuck You. Threats aren’t going to get you anywhere”.

Giovanni shook his head slightly, sighing, “it seems you’re not ready yet. It was too much to hope you would give out immediately I suppose, you just seemed the type” he smiled again at Ash’s indignant huff, “I’ll let you think it over a while, please if you require anything just shout, you’ll get attention… eventually”.

With that Giovanni turned and left, Persian trailing behind, grunts taking the rear as the door clunked shut again.

Ash growled in frustration and stalked over to the mattress, giving it a stiff kick that sent it across the cell. This was ridiculous and insulting. Giovanni had to know it was hopeless to try and get him to say where the masterball was. Hell it was even a long shot to assume Ash knew where it was. Did he?

_Last I knew professor Oak had one. I know that a lot of league champions in different regions had one at one point, most of those have been used by now though. Oak gave out one or two of those, he might not even have one still. Wait doesn’t Silph make pokeballs? Why wouldn’t they just whip up a masterball? Are they that hard to make? God I hope Pikachu is ok, hang in there buddy._

Ash found himself sitting on the bed again, now pushed against the cold concrete wall in the back corner. He pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his chin there.

_I can’t tell them, no doubt about that. Who knows what Giovanni wants to catch, and with how many myths I’ve run into I don’t want to give him that kind of power. He would destroy Kanto in a heartbeat. I can’t let that happen, what would mom say. Probably that she loves me. I wish I was in Pallet town right now, I’m so hungry._

That thought was accompanied by the rumble of his stomach. He hadn’t noticed it before, between the adrenaline and stress, but he was starving. It had been hours since he was locked in the cell and he hadn’t eaten since that morning. But Ash wasn’t going to let that get to him, he wasn’t going to let these people make him beg for anything.

Ash would like to think he had a strong will, and a lot of times he did, but trailing with people who were able to whip up an amazing meal in half an hour or having enough money from battles to buy as much food as he wanted had started to spoil him. He’s stomach was starting to hurt he was so hungry.

He hated to do this but if these criminals were going to kidnap him and lock him up they would at least feed him. Giovanni had said to just yell.

Ash uncurled from the mattress and went as close to the door into the hall as he could from his prison. He grabbed the bars and started yelling.

At first he was very coherent, he kept the shouting on message, screaming for someone to bring him food. He listed some food that would work to his liking, cheeseburger, some spaghetti, maybe a glass of Moomoo milk. Eventually he got bored of listing food, plus it was just making him more hungry, and he started just yelling about how gross and cold it was. He went around the cell as he did, checking each bar for a sign of weakness, might as well not waste time. He had checked all the bars by the time he started feeling nauseous and a bit shaky, his stomach was cramping now.

He had been at it awhile. He had given up screaming, his throat hurt and his voice was going raspy. He was sitting back on the mattress, it was the only part of the prison that wasn’t metal or cement and that made it the warmest if not the cleanest. Giovanni had clearly been lying about someone coming when he yelled which, honestly, he should have expected. He was about to just lay down and give up for the day when he heard the door again.

Ash scrambled to his feet as the door opened and a goon came in with a tray of food and a blanket. The Team Rocket grunt, a woman who was looking at him like he was scum, kept well out of reach of the cell bars, “listen close. You will back up to the wall, I will slide this through the door, you will wait until I say so and then you can get the food and eat. You have 15 minutes to eat and then you will back up to the wall again, and I will retrieve the tray”.

She gave him a very firm glare, pointing a finger at him, “if you try anything, anything at all, you don’t get food for 24 hours. If you’re listening and are good you get food every 10, got it”?

Ash nodded, backing up to the wall furthest from the door, “I won't try anything I promise, please I’m so-”.

“Shut up”, she snapped. He did, mouth closing with a click, “you get this blanket, you ONLY get this blanket. Do not ask for a pillow or more blankets, yes it’s cold, get over it. If you act up you will not get this blanket for 24 hours. Basically just don’t cause trouble and you will be adequately taken care of”.

She waited for a minute, to see if he would talk or move again, when she was satisfied she pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door opening just enough to push the tray along the floor and slam it closed again.

She stepped away from the bars again, “alright you can move”.

Ash scrambled forward, freezing when the woman brandished a baton and stepped towards the bars, “slower”.

Ash slowly crept to the tray, making sure he wouldn’t spook her into beating the shit out of him. When he had it in hand he hurried back to his bed, scarfing down the food.

It was awful. Another unfortunate of being fortunate when it came to food was that Ash was used to it tasting good. It definitely did not. It was all the wrong texture, mushy with lumps that were just a touch too firm and grisly. A bland and almost off taste, with an even worse after taste. It just smelled like moisture, maybe a bit like fish but that could have just been the salt. It was hard for Ash to swallow, but he did. At the very least it should satisfy his hunger pains.

With all the problems getting the food down Ash wasn’t even half done with the tray when the grunt smacked her baton against the bars, nearly making him drop it all, “enough, set the tray by the door, you’re done”.

Ash groaned but relented, carefully getting up and setting the tray by the door before backing up against the wall again. The woman unlocked the door and took it quickly before slamming the cage again. She wasted no time on getting out of the room all together, not another word on her way out.

Ash sighed and sat back on the bed after grabbing the blanket she had left behind. Now that he wasn’t hungry anymore, mostly, his throat hurt and he was tired. He laid down and pulled the blanket over him. It was probably the thinnest single cloth Ash had ever felt but it was better than nothing. Not like he was allowed to ask for more anyways.

It wasn’t comfortable by any means but it would do. Now Ash just needed to get out of here before it got to him too badly. He could come up with an escape plan completely alone right? He couldn’t rely on anyone coming to get him. Giovanni would either start roomers of him being far and away from here or silence anyone who figured out the truth.

Actually, the more Ash thought about it the less plausible that seemed. He was friends with a lot of the champions from other regions, that’s how he knew anything about the masterball to begin with. Some of them had even decided to live in Pallet for a while. They were smart, and they knew for certain he was in Kanto. Plus they were Pokemon League Champions, Giovanni wouldn’t be able to just silence them.

Maybe if Ash could hold out long enough he would get some help from the outside.

Maybe if he could find out why Giovanni wanted the masterball he could turn the tides.


	3. Nightmares

Ash didn’t sleep well, how was he supposed to. He did eventually sleep, no doubt, Ash eventually could sleep anywhere. However with all the stress, the cold, and the feeling that he absolutely had a hidden camera on him did not lend himself to sleep easier.

When Ash finally did fall asleep it had to be in the very early hours of the morning. He didn’t have a window, or a clock, but his internal clock was still slightly in sync, and Ash wasn’t used to staying up past one in the morning.

Ash woke up even worse than he had fallen asleep. He could hear the doors lock clunk as the lights, it seemed they were on motion sensors, flickered on. Sending him jerking up groggily. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stood quickly, focusing.

Giovanni and Persian stood a couple feet from the bars, Giovanni smiled at his, “good morning. Did you sleep well?”.

Ash just glared at him, not awake enough to respond with something witty.

Giovanni huffed a quiet laugh, “well, either way, it’s time to start your day. To start from where we left off yesterday I have to once again ask you where the masterball is”.

Ash groaned, sitting back down on the mattress unceremoniously, “no, fuck off. What is it like, eight a.m., go away”.

Giovanni sighed, glancing down as Persian rubbed against his leg, “no, it’s six, and the fact that you think eight is early is a really disappointing thing to learn about you”. He looked back at Ash, stepping closer to the bars as he pulled out his phone, “I really think you should reconsider, it’s in your best interest to tell me what I want to know”. As he spoke he seemed to search his phone for something before turning the screen to face Ash.

A picture greeted Ash. It looked like a lab, or at least the people in the picture were wearing lab coats, even though the picture was blurry enough Ash couldn’t pick out their faces. That didn’t matter much though, Ash wasn’t trying to. He was far more focused on what looked like a glass cage in the center of the photo, with rubber tubing sticking from the top. It was hard to make out, even though the camera had focused on the center point of the picture, because it was lit up so harshly.

Pikachu sat in the cage, fur standing on end, eyes screwed shut. He was enveloped in electricity that seemed to pet jetting mostly to the rubber tubing, they must have been siphoning off the energy.

Ash was tense, hands clenched into fists, “... what are you doing to him”.

“Oh not too much for now, it really doesn’t take much to get electricity off of an electric rat”, Giovanni’s smile turned a touch smug as he tucked his phone back into his pocket, “it’s really been cutting the labs budget in half, he’s got so much energy in him. Your other pokemon are being put to good use as well, don’t worry, I’m trying to go green with my labs, it’s great for PR. Plus having the extra energy boosts is making it much easier for team Rocket to get caught up on projects”.

Ash didn’t know what to say. His pokemon were being used to help Team Rocket, who knows what they were doing to the other pokemon. His were going to further Team Rocket getting their way. Pikachu must be exhausted. Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Muk, and Pidgeotto, they must all be exhausted already. They must be scared, suddenly being lab rats, not knowing where he was.

Giovanni watched him for a moment, before glancing at the guards by the door, signaling them to open it, “food for thought I’m sure, keep thinking about it and let me know. Have a great day”.

He sauntered out with Persian at his heels. Ash didn’t spare him a glance, lost in his head.

_They can’t be researching anything good, they’re Team Rocket. I don’t want them to be used to hurt other people. Wouldn’t giving them the masterball do the same thing though? My pokemon are strong, each and every one of them, they know I wouldn’t abandon them if I had any other choice. Right? God I hope they’re ok._

Ash spent the day like that. He paced in the cell, curled up on the mattress. He was worried about his pokemon and there was nothing he could do for them. There was nothing he could do period. He was stuck in this cell with nothing to do and no one to talk to.

He slept just as badly as he had the night before.

He spent the next few days like that. Woke up to Giovanni coming into the room. Was shown a picture of his pokemon. Pidgeotto in a wind tunnel, a vital sign monitor strapped to it’s back. Muk sitting in a reinforced glass cage, test tube filled with little bits of it. Bulbasaur sitting in a similar tank, harsh lighting surrounding it, clipping had been taken from his leaves. Squirtle in a larger tank filled with sand and cactus. Charizard in what looked like a forge, tail stuck into a furnace, muzzle over his face.

They were clearly being used for experiments, what those experiments where was usually kind of vague. Couldn’t be good though. It had been a week. Assuming that Giovanni was keeping to a daily routine and not just doing these interrogations randomly. Although that did sound like something he would do, only to throw Ash off. If he was, it was working.

Ash slept worse and worse. Barely a few hours each night. Until finally, towards the end of the week, he couldn’t help himself. It was a couple hours after Giovanni had shown him the picture of Charizard and Ash found himself lying on the shitty mattress. He could barely move even as his mind was racing.

...

Ash didn’t remember coming here, but here he was. He was standing at the door of a Pokemon Center. A nurse Joy was behind the counter, her back turned to him as she worked on something at a computer.

_I must be here for my pokemon._

Ash was at the counter now. Nurse Joy didn’t turn around, Ash knew she was smiling, “hello dear, how can I help you”.

Ash frowned, “I’m here to pick up my pokemon”. That didn’t feel right.

Nurse Joy turned to him finally, she was officer Jenny now, “what pokemon”.

Ash could see the screen behind her, his pokemon flashed across the screen. Only they couldn’t be his pokemon, they were scared, and locked up, in cages with things attached to them being used. This wasn’t right, “I left my pokemon here to be healed, I was in a fight, I was caught”.

He was outside, Jenny had his arms behind his back, handcuffing him, “I can’t believe a kid like you would help them”.

“Help who”, Ash asked, he was in the backseat of a cop car, the computer screen was in the seat beside him, pictures still flashing. This was wrong.

He was in court, a kid Ash didn’t recognize sat in the witness seat. He pointed a finger at Ash, “my pokemon got stolen by Team Rocket, they were his pokemon, he stole my pokemon”.

_You’re wrong_

The judge, a faceless powdered wig smacked the gavel, “present your evidence”.

A screen rolled itself down the aisle and parked in front of the court, the same picture’s flashing across it’s screen.

The judge brought the Gavel down again, he was standing at Ash’s table now, “guilty”. He sighed and shook his wig, “you should have protected them better”.

Ash tried to protest but he was shoved toward the screen as the picture changed to Pikachu in a glass cage. He tumbled through the screen and everything went black.

He was standing in a hallway. It was pitch black. Ash started walking.

He could hear them now. His pokemon. They were down the hallway, he just had to reach them. Nothing had ever been this important to him.

Ash didn’t want to be responsible for some kid losing his pokemon. He didn’t want Team Rocket to get stronger, he didn’t want his pokemon to suffer.

_Wrong, WRong, WRONG._

He was in a lab. He had a lab coat on. He was in front of Pikachu, holding the cage.

The cage shattered when it hit the floor but as Ash stepped forward and grabbed Pikachu the glass was gone. He hugged Pikachu.

_I’m so sorry buddy, I’m gonna get you out, just a bit longer I can’t let them get what they want_

Ash felt a searing pain in his arm. He pulled back and looked at Pikachu. His pokemon looked back at him angrily, hatful eyes boring into Ash. The lab lit up as Pikachu shocked Ash again. His arm hurt so bad it convulsed.

Pikachu dropped from his arms, shattering on the floor, then… gone.

_NO, I want to help, I want to save you, let me help_

_I’m here now_

_You’re safe_

_I’m sorry_

_I’m so sorry_

…

Ash jerked away, sitting bolt upright only to nearly faint at the pain. He looked down at his arm. Blood seeped slowly out of a nasty scrape on his forearm. The old mattress had a spring, rusty and gross, sticking out of it covered in blood.

_Not good._

For the first time since day one Ash screamed for help.

No one came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> I realize that this story is like, completely different, but I am trying to keep some of it. Parts of it I’m going to try and keep scene for scene, and other parts I’m going to gut. A lot of them though will be the same idea with new words behind it. Like this chapter, nightmare. Same story, same nightmare, new descriptions. New reactions, more hopeless than before. I really wanna hammer in that Ash wont be able to get out of this so easy, I want this to be a story not ‘hey wouldn’t it be quirky if he had to kiss him to wake him up, lol XD”. I’d like to think my writing is a bit different from that now. Not as self indulgent garbage and more… actual story.


	4. Hospital

Ash wasn’t screaming. It had been hours and no one had answered. He shouldn’t be surprised, they hadn’t answered last time why would that have changed. His throat was raw now, hurting when he even swallowed.

He lay beside the mattress, the shitty blanket wrapped around his arm. It was soaked in blood nearly all the way through but the bleeding had finally stopped.

Not that Ash was really able to celebrate that, he could barely move without getting so dizzy he felt like he was going to throw up. Everything was horribly fuzzy and out of focus. He had to keep reminding himself of where he was as he slipped in and out of awareness.

How long? God I hope someone comes soon. Who did I see last, Giovanni or food delivery? Giovanni? Geovanni? Giovani? How does he spell his name? I wish there was a clock in here.

Ash found his thoughts wandering as he lay there. Slipping away from him so badly that he didn’t even notice the door to the main room open and the gasp until someone rushed over and started unlocking the cell door.

Ash fought through the nausea to lift his head, the woman who always brought him food was wrestling with the key, food dropped to the side. He tried to smile at her, head falling back to this ground. “Thank god, thought you forgot about me”, he whispered, struggling to speak through the haze and pain.

She finally got the door open, rushing over to him, “if you try anything I will beat you”. She didn’t wait for him to respond, pulling him up to a sitting position despite his protests, “I’m taking you to the infirmary, what happened”.

She threw his arm over her shoulder and made him stand, he stopped fighting her as he tried his hardest not to hurl, “shit mattress… fuckin stabbed me”.

She glanced at the mattress as she walked him out, supporting most of his weight, “definitely infected”, she hosted him higher to keep him up, “come on kid work with me”.

They stumbled out of the cell, out of the room, and started down the hall. As soon as another person appeared she shouted at them to page medical staff, before continuing that direction herself.

The further they went the more Ash struggled, he was fairly certain his arm had started bleeding again, but with the blanket still wrapped around it he couldn’t be sure. They got down that hallway before Ash legs completely gave out. The woman barely had enough time to get him against the wall before he went down, falling at least partly steadied on both sides now.

She pushed him so he was sitting with his back to the wall, “hey stay awake, that’s what you're supposed to do right, don’t fall asleep”.

Ash barely heard her. He could barely breathe let alone focus on whatever she was saying. Absolutely everything was spinning and it was just too much. She kept touching his face, talking to him. Ash tried to push her away, trying to tell her to shut up, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t.

_-_-_

Oh my god, what do I do, boss is gonna kill me when he finds out. How do I cover this up? Wake up kid.

June was having a bad day. She had slept in and been late for work at her real job, a sales associate at a local shop that sold pokemon accessories. She’d had to use her lunch break to come and feed some dumb trainer that Team Rocket had kidnapped. Her supervisor at Silph had demanded that she be the only person he see aside from Giovanni himself.

Who even was this kid if he was so important Giovanni had to see him every day.

She had nearly been late getting back from lunch because of that, and of course she couldn’t tell her boss why. Then she had to finish up her long shift before going back over to Silph Co. and grabbing a small lunch on the way. Her supervisor had her doing all the dumb jobs he didn’t want to do, running all over the building to deliver memo’s deemed to important for the risk of technology and not important enough to deliver personally.

When the time came to deliver the second meal to the prisoner June was beyond exhausted. Thankfully her other job was part time so she only had to keep up this routine three days a week, and this job was only five days a week.

Not like having only two days a week to relax or get housework done was any time at all, but at least she wasn’t at work all the time.

Like right now, how she wished she could be anywhere but at work right now.

When June had walked into the holding room she had not been excited for it. She never really was, but today especially she was tired and wanted to get this over with, she was going home after. He was laying down like he usually was when she came in but something was wrong.

She saw the blood on the bed and felt a cold sweat start, that was definitely not good. She dropped the tray of food to the side and ran to the door, fumbling with the keys. The kid lifted his head just enough to look at her, mumbling some incoherent nonsense before it dropped back to the floor. She noticed the bloody wrap around his arm and forced the key into the lock, yanking the door open.

She had managed to get him up and moving at least, probably not the best for an undressed wound but at least he was closer to the infirmary. She had a hard enough time getting him this far when he collapsed. June did the best she could to steady him as he went down, she wouldn’t have been able to stop him completely.

Now here she was with a dying kid in the hallway waiting for the in house nurse to hurry up and find them.

Thank god she didn’t have to wait long, a nurse came jogging down the hallway a few minutes later. She instantly knelt beside them, taking as many vitals as she could with the limited tools she brought with her, “what happened”.

“Not completely sure”, June replayed, stepping out of her way, “I went to give him food and found him like this, lots of blood on the bed”.

The nurse nodded, peeking into the informal arm wrap, “help me get him up, he’s got a bad puncture on his arm, we need to get him to the infirmary”.

They both took a side, the nurse supporting his hurt side as well as she could. Hosting him back to his feet with an arm over their shoulders they dragged him the rest of the way to the infirmary. A doctor was there to greet them, listening to the nurse’s explanation as they carried the kid to a bed.

After they had him laying on a cot the nurse and doctor took over and June was shooed out so they could work in peace. June just stood outside of the infirmary for a bit, not really sure what to do now. For some reason she felt like she was supposed to stay and see if the kid was ok, but at the same time she could barely feel her feet cause she had been up and moving all day. 

She didn’t stay long, her feet really hurt, but she did get the receptionist to agree to let her know what happened later.

Whoever this kid was June felt bad for him, but honestly she was even more worried about what would happen to her when Boss found out his project was in trouble. She went home feeling very anxious and sick to her stomach.

_-_-_

Ash couldn’t think.

He couldn’t breathe.

Little snippets of light and sound made their way to him but everything felt slow and hazy, like he was slowly bringing back a very old memory. Something hurt, sort off, or at least seemed like it should. It was hard to tell when his whole body felt like it was made of partially baked clay.

A small moment of sight and he watched someone in a lab coat stick a needle in his arm. Normally that would have his skin crawling, but now it almost felt like he was watching someone play doctor, he couldn’t feel a thing.

He had barely a second of rational thought to realize he was falling asleep before the world went black again.

_-_-_

Ash woke up feeling rough. He hurt all over and his head was fuzzy and he couldn’t move. Not that he wanted to cause he was also absolutely exhausted.

Someone was at his side, talking, he couldn’t hear them. He was having trouble staying awake actually.

At least until he felt a sharp stab in his shoulder. He gasped, body jerking to the side as his brain told him to get away from pain. Something around his arm kept him from vaulting off the bed as he tried to breathe deeply enough to clear his head.

He looked around blearily, taking stock of his limbs. His left hand had IV and blood drips stuck into it, taped steady against the back of his hand. It was strapped by a padded strap to the side of the cot he was laying. His left arm was much more secure. It was strapped top to bottom to the railing of the cot, wrapped in gauze and basically taped to the side.

Ash remembered waking up to pain, in the cell, and lots of blood. Most everything after that wasn’t coming back to him but thankfully his arm seemed to be the only part of him seriously injured.

Well that certainly wasn’t ideal but it could be worse. What wasn’t encouraging was that he couldn’t feel his right arm at all, when he tried to wiggle his fingers they responded slowly, and only moved a little.

“That means nerve damage right?” Ash wondered to himself, idly trying to pull his left arm out of the strap “that’s not good, could be wrapped too tight though”.

He didn’t get a chance to explore the bindings more before a nervous looking balding man in a doctor's coat scuttled into the room. He seemed to deflate when he saw Ash was awake, peering nervously over his too small glasses, “ah, hello, how are you feeling”?

Ash coughed, realizing how dry his throat was, “not dead I guess, what happened”?

The man glanced at the IV, grabbing the clipboard at the foot of the cot, “you lost 4 liters of blood and passed out, the mattress spring infected the wound. You were given a tetanus shot and you’ve been asleep for the past 24 hours”. He moved to the right side of Ash’s bed, glancing over his arm while staying far enough away that Ash couldn’t reach him with the limited motion he had, “your infection is still strong, we have you on antibiotics as well as mild steroids. We need to keep you here for a few weeks to let the infection purge before you go back. It will take longer than that for you to fully recover though”. The doctor sniffed, pushing his glasses back up his nose, “any questions”.

“Yeah,” Ash said after a moment, “let me go”.

The man hesitated before frowning, “that’s not a question”.

“Please”.

“That's still not really a question, I’m sure you’re aware I can’t do that”.

“You can actually, just let me out of this bed and I can just go. I won't fight anyone, I won’t hurt you, I’ll just leave I promise”.

The doctor sighed, shuffling to put the clipboard back, “you will stay here, I’ll send someone to check on you later, please do not hurt yourself more or the equipment”. He dropped the clipboard back near the foot of the cot and left, glancing over his shoulder just before stepping out, closing the door behind it. Ash could hear the lock click into place.

He sighed and tugged gently on his binding, they were far too strong and tight for him to do anything right now, he could already feel exhaustion creeping up on him after that short conversation.

Ash settled back into the bed, resigned once again to his surroundings, “this is fine, new room, new people, I can figure this out”. He repeated that to himself for the next few hours. A mantra of hope.

Whether he believed it or not didn’t matter.


End file.
